Indonesian jets pound suspected Aceh rebel hideouts

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Sept 21 (AFP) - Airstrikes were launched on suspected rebel hideouts on an Indonesian island Sunday as warships landed dozens of troops in the military's latest offensive against separatists in Aceh province.

The strike by two AV-10 Bronco jets came shortly after dawn on the Cotgoh Leumo Mate hill region of Weh island, north of provincial capital Banda Aceh, said Lieutenant Colonel Joko Warsito, a local military commander.

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"We only used weapons with a caliber of 12.7 mm in the airstrikes. They were aimed at breaking up (the rebel) concentration so that the army can land, " Warsito told AFP.

Officials said two warships and 150 soldiers and police were involved in the operation on Weh, which lies 19 miles (31 kilometres) north of Banda Aceh. The target of the airstrikes was 17 kilometers west of Indonesia's Sabang freeport.

Warsito said the military believed about 15 separatist rebels armed with 14 firearms, including a bazooka, were in the area. There was no immediate report of casualties or captures and no further details were provided.

Four suspected separatist rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), meanwhile, were shot dead Saturday and three others captured alive in clashes elsewhere in Aceh.

Troops also captured regional military GAM commander Hamdan alias Abu Mameh in a raid on a house in Rantau Selamat, East Aceh on Saturday, he added. A grenade was confiscated from him.

GAM spokesman for the East Aceh area, Teungku Mansor, told AFP by telephone that the military had arrested the wife and two infant children of area commander Ishak Daud, who is still on the run.

The military could not be immediately reached for confirmation on the report.

Mansor said Daud's wife Cut Rostina, 27, and her two children were taken into custody midmorning Sunday from their home in Gaseh Sayang, in the subdistrict of Darul Aman of East Aceh, and taken to the area's military command.

The military says more than 900 GAM rebels have been killed since a major operation to crush the separatist movement began on May 19. Sixty-six members of the security forces have died.

More than 1,800 other rebels have been arrested or have surrendered in the operation to crush the movement of an estimated 5,000 guerrillas.

The military released its first figures on civilian casualties on Friday, saying 304 had died during the operation. It did not say who was responsible for the deaths.

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